Star Wars Announced for Blu-ray

Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox officially announced today that all six live-action Star Wars films will arrive on the Blu-ray format in Fall 2011 as a commemorative box set.

The news, part of this week’s Celebration V festivities, promises “the highest possible picture and audio presentation, along with extensive special features  including documentaries, vintage behind-the-scenes moments, interviews, retrospectives and never-before-seen footage from the Lucasfilm archives.”

Blu-ray is the absolute best way to experience Star Wars at home  in pristine high definition, said George Lucas of the release, The films have never looked or sounded better.

At this time it is unclear what versions of each film will appear in the set. Past Star Wars home video releases have focused on the updated special editions, though fan demand led to a later, unrestored release of the original theatrical version on the DVD format.

UPDATE: The New York Times is reporting that the set will include only the updated versions of the original trilogy. “[W]hen we did the transfer to digital,” Lucas is quoted as saying, “we only transferred really the upgraded version.